Subsequent to an ostomy operation in which portions of the intestinal or urinary tract are removed, the waste products produced by the body are excreted at the residual opening, or stoma, formed in the abdominal wall. The excreta is typically collected by attaching an ostomy bag having an adhesive coated ring to the outer side of the stoma. When full, which may happen several times in a day, this ostomy bag must be either removed and discarded, or cleaned. There are two principal reasons to avoid the removal and discarding of the filled ostomy bag. The first reason is that removal and replacement is irritating to the skin of the patient, and therefore should be done as infrequently as possible. Second is that discarding human waste into a garbage disposal facility, even if it is contained in a plastic bag, may cause the spread of disease. Alternatively, cleaning the bag contents into a facility adapted for handling sewage is substantially safer.
Therefore, the preferred method is to leave the ostomy bag in place and to clean or flush the excreta into a toilet where such materials are able to be disposed of sanitarily.
Additional problems in the cleaning and care of an ostomy bag will occur if the patient involved is restricted to bed or to a wheelchair because of the severity of illness. A different sort of problem is presented if the ostomy patient is otherwise healthy and able to travel, so that the ostomy bag cleaning sometimes occurs in a location other than home.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a bag adapted to be worn in contact with a patient's abdomen adjacent a stoma site and operational for collecting excreta and an apparatus adapted for cleaning the collection bag without removal of the bag from the patient's abdomen.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus for the cleaning of the ostomy bag and discharging the removed excreta into a sanitary sewage facility.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide an ostomy bag cleaning apparatus which can be brought to the side of a patient wearing the ostomy bag and confined to bed or a wheelchair and used to clean the ostomy bag at the bedside.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide an ostomy bag cleaning apparatus which can be readily transported and utilized in any toilet facility.
Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.